Eagles Beat Weber State in Ogden for First Time

In cold, rainy conditions, the Eastern Washington University
women's soccer team knocked off Weber State in Ogden, Utah, for the
first time in history on Thursday afternoon (Oct. 8).
Lauren Jacobsen scored her first goal of the
freshman's career at the 5:33 mark, and goalkeeper Lisa
Dimak saved a penalty kick at the 77:29 mark to help
secure Eastern's 1-0 victory.

Entering today, EWU had gone 0-7 all-time against the Wildcats
on their home field. The win was also notable considering the
Eagles were selected last in the Big Sky Coaches Preseason Poll,
and the Wildcats had been picked first. Weber State is also the
defending Big Sky regular-season champion.

"I am really proud of our team holding on to a 1-0 lead in a
hostile environment," head coach George Hageage
said. "That says a lot about the character of the team. We let some
games get away earlier this season and I am proud of the way we
stuck to it today.

"Weber State is an incredibly organized team," Hageage said.
"They played their system well with a deep sweeper and were hard to
break down."

On Eastern's goal, Mandy Cheney crossed the
ball in before a clearing attempt landed at Jacobsen's feet.
Standing at the back left corner of the box, she then lofted the
ball over the goalkeeper's head and into the right side netting.

On the dramatic, clutch penalty kick save, Dimak dove to her
right on a crisp shot attempt by Jessie Baddley, a transfer from
Santa Clara who had 10 shots in the contest, and shoved it wide of
the post.

The contest was closely contested, and the shot totals showed it
until the final few minutes when the Eagles (4-6-1) withstood a
Wildcat onslaught of shots (most from distance). In the final 14
minutes, Weber State (4-7) had seven of the game's eight shots. Up
to that point, the Wildcats held a slim 15-14 shot advantage.

"We weathered a storm the final minutes," Hageage said.

Whitney Brannan and Brittany
Sparks each provided pressure to Weber State's back line,
as they contributed four and three shots, respectively. Jacobsen
had two shots in the game, including her goal.

The Eagles now return home for three straight Big Sky games,
their final home contests in the 2009 regular season. First up will
be Idaho State at 11 a.m. on Sunday (Oct. 11). The Bengals won
today 3-1 at home versus Montana in their initial Big Sky game of
the season. ISU is now 6-4 overall.

"We need to defend our home turf the next three games, or today
loses some of its luster," Hageage said.